Close Those Cigarette Eyes
by xXLookAPandaXx
Summary: She couldn't help but think that perhaps her world had always been tilted slightly, that at least one puzzle piece had always been missing.


_**Title: **__Close Those Cigarette Eyes_

_**Pairings: **__Harley Quinn/Joker, Harley Quinn/Poison Ivy_

_**Fandom:**__ Batman [Animated Series]_

_**Rating: **__R_

_**Warning: **__Abuse, Hinted Intercourse, Mild Cursing, Drugs, and Drinking_

_**Disclaimer: **__I own nothing related to Batman. Mkay?_

_**Plot: **__As his strong hands held a tightening grasp around her neck, she could feel his long fingers bruising her skin, the chipped off unclean fingernails digging so forcefully into her skin that they formed crescent marks upon her. He began to laugh in that unnerving baritone as he watched the red color of blood pour from where he cut her with his own nails. And Harley had noticed that he had really snapped this time, in fear her mouth parted to let out one last gasp of desperation, as her voice called out the name of another in fear._

_**A/N:**__. _Ahead of time, I'd like to say abuse is NEVER okay, and this fic is NOT supporting abusive relationships in anyway shape or form. In fact, I wrote this fic on the basis of the exact opposite. The abuse going on in here is actually shown in a slimmed down version in the comics and show as the relationship between Joker/Harley, I bumped it up slightly, because I'm not writing a kid show, and I'm trying to make it realistic. And, I'm trying to depict the horror of...abuse and such. _Now, when I write of the character of the Joker, I imagine Mark Hamill's psychotic, maniac, abusive Joker with the ability to snap at any second, and then return to being calm the next. Also, when defining Harley Quinn I depict her as I see her, and as Arleen Sorkin played her. Having said that, I'm not making Harley weak at all, I realize she's strong, but she just doesn't know how to defend herself when it comes to "Puddin'" he's her weakness. And she just keeps on coming back. AND so, I did really try to show Ivy, Harley, and Joker's personalities in this, their weaknesses and their strengths. A KEY note I tried to make in this story is the vast differences between Ivy and Joker's relationship with Harley. Its all meant to be very black and white, if you will. Joker is more violent, and then more of the lover and Ivy is more tender and more of the nurturer. And I hoped I conveyed that properly._

_._

_"Ya' know whats great about you Puddin'? You really put the the_ _fun in __**FUN**__eral" - Harley Quinn_

_"Christian, you may see me only as a drunken, vice-ridden gnome whose friends are just pimps and girls from the brothels. But I know about art and love, if only because I long for it with every fiber of my being"- Toulouse-Lautrec_

Two feet dangled over a diamond patterned bed. The swinging feet that had belonged to Harley Quinn barely swooped the ground, and she could feel her toes wiggling under the slim clown like shoes that she wore. Usually, she wouldn't have the time to relax, to look about her room and collect all her thoughts. For once, she wasn't busy doing something, or tripping all over herself in order to please the Joker. She had been bored for the past few hours, left alone with her thoughts. Even her babies, the flea ridden hyenas that were her most loyal pets, were now curled up on the floor to the right of her bed sound asleep. So, she had made a call to Red. The conversation had been going on for three to four hours now, or at least that's how long Harley guessed they had been talking for. It was midnight now, and the drained voice of Pamela reached her ears through the receiver of the bright pink telephone Harley held clasped in her hand.

"And, so, then Mista' J said "g'night and sweet dreams" to me." That was the last bit of dull information Harley had to hand out about her day. Her sentence ended with a delighted high pitched squee of joy.

"God, Harl' you are pathetic." Usually, it would be a rather negative comment, but the words that fell from Ivy were soft and almost had a gentleness to them. A yawn slipped from the end of the receiver to fill Harley's ears, and the blond girl could only imagine the red head's lips parting to let the trapped air out. And Harley had found herself lifting up her own hand to cover a yawn of her own from creeping out.

"Ya' tired Red?" was the innocent question that Harley had to ask. She couldn't blame her friend, she was tired herself. She brought her open hand up to her face in a balled fist and began rub her left eye then the right trying to hold off the sleep for a bit longer.

"Well, it _is _midnight." Ivy replied with her usually lazy husky drawl.

"I'll see ya' later, right Red?" there was a hint of desperation from Harley's end. Not that she'd admit to it. Nothing wrong with missing a friend a little. Right?

"Of course, Harley..." Ivy said with a short breath. Closing her eyes tightly, Harley could just imagine the smile that must be currently upon Ivy's red painted lips.

The line had gone dead a mere minute later, and Harley had found herself still clinging to the phone. It was probably a good time to settle down the phone and hit the sack. Mister J probably would have some plans to get Batman come later in the day. Might as well get some sleep, he had always hated when she dozed off in the middle of planning.

Settling the phone back on the holder, Harley's eyes remained focused upon the brightly colored object. The edges of her lips quirked ever so slightly upward to form a tucked in smile.

Exhaling slightly through her nose, she whispered quietly into the night air, before tucking herself under her bed sheets. "G'night Red...."

--------------------------

A loud bang could be heard as the large oak door of Harley's bedroom swung open, and smacked into the wall. It had been flung open so briskly that it was a surprise it hadn't been flung off its fucking hinges. A lean male figure sharply dressed in purple and green stood huffing in the doorway. With a frame like the crazed clown prince had, it was quite surprising he had such strength. His breaths came in and out with short gasps in between. The broad shoulders that belonged to the Joker slouched and drew back with each breath. It was obvious he wasn't in the happiest of moods, as made apparent by his disheveled green hair and heavy lidded bloodshot

eyes.

"P-P-Puddin?" her voice shook as, she jolted up at the sight of the angered clown. She scooted back on her bed till her back hit the wall.

"Yes, _poo_" he said, a sickly twisted smile etched its way on his white powdered face. He was approaching her in a slow manner.

"Hiya, Puddin." She wasn't sure if she should have been so eager to have him near or if she should cower. She brought the thick sheets of her bed to her chest, and waited for him to speak. Her breath hitched in her throat.

"Awe, remember when you told me you took care of Bats, doll?" his voice was dripping with poison, and his words stung though he said nothing strikingly offensive to her.

"Y-yes, of course" She stumbled over her answer. She had knocked him out, but she thought that would do...but clearly not.

A loud smack was heard as his hand hit her face. She fell back, slightly, her head banging against the plaster of her wall. She winced and glanced up at her lover with pain reflecting in her eyes. She deserved this, didn't she? She had messed up, and she was to be punished for having done so. Because of her the Batman was still free and Mister J now had to go through a series of more plans. A string of apologies fell from her lips as she felt his backlash once more. Again and again she could feel the power behind his angry blows. Her screams filled the bedroom air, and though she knew her hyenas wanted to nip Joker where they could, even they didn't dare. An angered clown was never a good thing, especially one as mentally unstable as the Joker.

When it had all ended she fell ontop of her bed, flopping weakly against his knees. He sat there, situating her head upon his lap. Moments before, she had been stricken, but now the angered man had calmed down, surprisngly so. His face had relaxed now, as his crooked wide toothed grin was back to being plastered to his eerily handsome face instead of the sketchy frown that had been there previously. Looking up at him with her innocent wide eyes, she had found his own dark orbs staring down at her. And for a minute, Harley didn't think it would be such a bad idea to get lost, in the moment, in him, in his eyes. The feel of his long slender fingers stroking her hair sent a shiver down her spine. A low purr boiled up from the pit of her stomach to fall from her mouth in low vibrations. He paused in his somewhat loving actions, if you could call it loving, to lean down and whisper into her ear.

"You know poo, all that I ask is that next time, you actually let me take care of bats....on my own." He quirked an eyebrow upward and patted the left side of her cheek. As his spoke, his voice deepened showing just how serious he was. "He's _mine._"

"Of course Mista' J." she cooed, as she lifted her body off of him, and shooting a broad grin in his direction.

With a tweak of her lips, Harley had come to a rather disturbing decision. She'd always make herself Mister J's punching bag, if only it would mean he would care for her, and if she would see the calm side of her favorite bright faced clown. Just as she did a second ago.

---------------------------

"Oh Jesus, Harley" The red head gasped as the blond girl wobbled weakly into her doorway. "What the fuck happened?"

The look on the pale face of her friends was a mix of shock, horror, hurt, and out right disappointment. What Harley was disappointed about, Ivy wasn't quite sure. But, she had a feeling she'd find out soon enough. Blood was pouring out of Harley's thin nose in dark maroon streams. Luckily, it seemed Harley's nose was still on point, and didn't seem to be broken or fractured. Lucky girl, nothing seemed wrong for her nose except it was quite wrecked. Ivy bit down on her bottom lip, tucking it under her perfectly aligned front teeth. She wasn't the type of _female _who really preferred to be the comforting sort. But, this was _her _Harley. And for god's sake, she couldn't just leave the poor bruised and beaten girl there, trembling on her doorstep, soaked and dripping from the raining of the outside world.

"Come in Harl" she stepped to the side to let the girl shuffle inside the warm room. An extra glare from Ivy was shot at the two damp mutts that followed behind the shuffling Harley. Fuck, if she wasn't so...defeated, Ivy would have demanded her to take her pets outside, those..._things _enjoyed killing her babies [the plants she so took care of with the most proper care] But, for now, she'd let it fly.

It took awhile for Ivy to rustle out a couple of decent towels from her rather crowded towel closet. Comfortably tucking them under her arm, she turned on her heel. Making her way back in the living room, she found the blond curl up on the far end of her hideous olive green couch. Ivy considered, in the back of her mind, that she really should buy a new piece of furniture that actually matched everything else in her house. But, really, her mind was wandering. What really mattered was her friend, and so her eyes focused back on her visitor. Poor girl was curled up in a beatle position on the couch, her blond hair out of their usual pigtails. The way those bleached wet bangs drooped over clinging to her face made her look so fragile, like a doll. In a way, she supposed the way Harley lowered her head, allowing the hair to fall in her face was like her way of blocking out the world around her. Knees were brought up to a chin, as Harley tucked herself up tightly. One arm held her knees in position, while the other drooped to the side of her body, letting her hand limply pet her hyena's with little effort. The sight was enough to break her heart, and in a way, Ivy felt something tighten in her chest. Still, Ivy approached with a sad smile attached to her flawless features.

"Here, I brought a towel, dry up while I make us something to drink." She plopped one towel on the top of the blonde's head and then ruffled it lovingly before dropping the extra two towels, for the "pets", beside the shivering girl. All that reached Ivy's ears was a muffled mumbling that came from Harley's shrunken form. She rightfully took it as a thanks. "No problem darling."

It had taken a good deal of time to make two cups of proper hot tea. Something, Ivy personally enjoyed when she was in a rather hurt mood. Though, she'd like to say she had never been hurt the exact same way Harley ever had. This thought having entered the red head's mind, sent a frown directly to her lips. She couldn't really ever imagine ever being in the situation Harley found herself in. Loving a man like the Joker, she was a fool. But, Ivy was in no place to judge her, really. She settled herself down next to her friend and situated the two cups of steaming liquid down on the leaf patterned table before them. Her frown deepened as she exhaled heavily. Harley had now turned to her, facing the red head with fresh tears forming in her eyes.

"I disappointed _him, _Red" was the weak whimper from Harley's busted mouth.

It had been ages since Ivy and her had any time together. Though, the last time Harley had busted into the flaming haired beauty's humble abode, it was a decent occasion and not one of such violence as was the current situation. But, still, it wasn't the time to question Harley's arrival. Ivy wrapped around Harley's curvy waist and yanked her gently, pulling both their bodies closer together. A thin feminine hand trailed up the blond's back, forming small comforting circular patterns as it went, before reaching up and grabbing hold of the back of her head. It was a gentle hold that guided the blond to rest her head on the feminine shoulder of Ivy's. With a deep sigh she began to wrap her arms about Harley, letting the girl break down completely. The tears began to flow like rivers down Harley's round cheeks till they fell from her face, dripping down through Ivy's slim white t-shirt, forming a small puddle that could never be as deep as Harley's desperation.

Pulling her head back ever so slightly, Ivy eyed Harley. She was unbelievably broken and torn apart. For now, she was like an abused child locked away from the world and scolded for being a penny less whore. It was sad, and heart wrenching to look at the distraught Harlequin dressed women. But, Ivy knew something people didn't give Harley credit for. She may be foolish, unabashedly so. But, Harleen Quinzel was a strong woman, inside and out. Ivy knew for sure that the blond would build herself back up completely till she was a brick wall once more. That was just who she was, Ivy could only hope she wouldn't be torn down so quickly.

_"You deserve so much better..." _Ivy said in a low husky whisper that vibrated against Harley's ear, causing her to purr.

"Mista' J deserves the best" Harley sniffled, and let the back of her hand rub the snot away from dripping further down her nose. With a shake of the head she continued. "I'm not the best, Red."

"But you are, you stupid cunt." her words were soft and held no meanness, as she grabbed hold of the other girl's shoulders with her thin hands, holding the body still and in place. Ivy leaned forward gently and pressed her luscious red lips to Harley's forehead in a loving fashion. Pulling away, Ivy flashed Harley a warm smile and received a heartfelt giggle in return from the blond. "You're the very best"

_And Harley Quinn just didn't realise how she really was the best and deserved someone so much more loving...._

---------------------------

Occasionally, Harley would be turned on, but she would never get to fuck properly when she wanted to. It wasn't her choice when they would have sex together. It was always his, and only his. Most of the time, before when she had tried to make a decision on when they bedded each other, she had gotten him when he was in one of his "moods" and time after time she was kicked to the curb. She had learned however, like a well trained puppy not to bother her puddin'. She had to be careful. And even when she didn't feel up to it, or in the mood to give him just what he wanted to, she alway found herself accepting the offer. Telling no to the tempermental clown never proved to be a good thing, it seemed he quite fancied the word _yes. _Besides, he was her one weakness. The very person who could crumble her well built defenses. Even if she wanted to say no, she always found herself enjoying it in the end. Afterall, he was her love...right? Of course. There shouldn't have been a doubt, not even a tiny one. But there was...several doubts...doubts she'd never dare speak.

"Come on Harl' kiss me, babes" he cooed, and it was with that tone that made Harley's curl and her spine tingle. She couldn't quite explain why he had such a strong effect on her but...well he did. Though, she never really had a need to explain it before.

Purring gleefully, she was all to happy to give him what he asked for. Her lips, came crashing down onto his. They weren't the most affection-filled kisses on earth. In fact, they were extremely rough. But that's how he liked them, and she was only rarely in the mood to argue with his logic. It hurt though, from time to time. She had busted her lip from kissing from him before, and she wasn't quite sure something this good should hurt so much. But, then there was always that saying that love hurt. So, maybe, they were doing it wonderfully right. A shudder ran up and down her spine as flames of warmth engulfed her body.

The way his lips moved over her skin, it lit her body up, caused her back to arch. She could feel his teeth sink into her skin, penetrating and causing a slow sticky liquid to fall from her. A rough feel of his tongue made her writhe, and she knew he was lapping up all her could from the wound he had inflicted on her. It was sick, yeah, but the two of them never really did things the "normal way"

The sweat was dripping from her body, as she wiggled and pressed herself upward. Strings of murmurs slipped from between her lips in panted breaths. Her finger dug into the Joker's skin and dragged themselves from his shoulderblades down to his back and then...

"All right, Harl' that's enough" and just like that, it was over.

She didn't have a choice, it had been his. But she knew, as she crawled fluidly from his bed and slinked over to her own bedroom that in the morning she would have battle wounds to display. She could just feel the dark mounds of bruises forming on her body. But, she had convinced herself over and over of one thing.

_Love hurts, Harl'...so since this is so very painful, then it's love right? It has to be love._

-------------------------

"Her lips have carassed you, poo?" Came his nasty snarl. "Please, tell me how that's meant to be funny...'cause I'm not getting that _joke _Harl" came Joker's snear. The spit flew from his mouth to land upon her face, sprinkling her with each bark.

"I-I...but...Red didn't mean it as anything, Mista' J...I swear" she squealed as her back hit the stone wall of the alleyway they were in. It was a dark deserted corner, what a perfect place for them to get in a rather nasty bicker. It wasn't like Harley had thought just a peck on Ivy's lips would have led to this. One friendly peck, and all this disaster had come flown at her. Or...it was friendly on some..._level_.

Joker came closer and closer, his disgusted expression failed leave his disgruntled face. It was as if he hadn't heard her retort. She gasped and shuffled back or as far back as she could. Shooting her hands out, she held him at a small distance, or attempted to. His frown only deepened, as she realised he hadn't quite enjoyed her defensive reply.

"It's really not very funny, you see." he tutted, and leered at her, cupping her face with a gloved hand. Her sparkling blue orbs lit up at the thought that he had forgiven her. "Might want to work on your delivery _poo_"

It was at that moment she realised that he wasn't ready to accept her apology. His glove traveled from her ching to grab a hold of her. Harley cried out in pain as his strong hands held a tightening grasp around her neck, she could feel his long fingers bruising her skin, the chipped off unclean fingernails digging so forcefully into her skin that they formed cresent marks upon her. He began to laugh in that unnerving baratone as he watched the red color of blood pour from where he cut her with his own nails. And Harley had noticed that he had really snapped this time, in fear her mouth parted to let out one last gasp of desperation, as her voice called out the name of another in fear.

_"I-Ivy..." _she gasped out for air, grabbing desperatly where his hands held tight to her neck. Her legs flailed about, what she was aiming to kick had been the maniac before her, but it was of no use. She clawed at his hands, trying to will herself free. She was strong, yes, but...he was more...capable of doing things she could never imagine. And to add, had more physical strength than she. God this couldn't be the end.

"P-P-Puddin' p-p-p-please" she whimpered, trying to catch her breath. Tear began to stream down from her eyes and her body began to riddle with each sniff.

"You won't do it any more, will you baby?" He cooed in a low seductive and frightening tone, he loosened his grin on her, slowly giving her the time to catch her breath enough to respond with an answer he wanted to hear this time.

"No,no, no,no never again Puddin' " she said frantically, and soon she found herself released.

"That's my good girl...now clean up, we've got to go play with a bat" as if it had been a simple misscomunication, he shrugged it off before dissapearing, if only for a short while.

Her body slumped against the cold brick, sliding down till her backside hit the pavement. Rubbing her neck with her hand absent mindly, she let her lids flutter shut. A sniffle escaped her as her thoughts now ran amuck.

_How long could this be love..._

------------------------

Perhaps, she really had lost all her marbles.

At one point, she was sure she had everything put together, everything fit nicely into place and the world turned normaly as it should have. But now, everything was so different than what it had been so very long ago. That had been back when she was a sufficient doctor, a well trained Psychiatrist. But now, that had all crumbled. And her sanity along with it. At times she found herself wondering, just what it would have been like if she hadn't left behind Harleen Quinzel. Or if she never walked down the corridors of the Arkham Asylum.

But...then....she couldn't help but think that perhaps her world had always been tilted slightly, that at least one puzzle piece had always been missing. Maybe, just maybe...right?

_Maybe, she was a nutso to begin with. She just kept it under wraps for a longer time._


End file.
